Insights from the wetlands

Nature’s wetlands may look placid, but they are teeming with life. Important work is going on in them; harmful substances are being filtered out, birth and regeneration are everywhere. The same is true of the political wetlands. In them, people practice a politics that is quite different from institutional politics—different in objectives, organization, and methods. The wetlands analogy calls attention to the extraordinary potential in what appears commonplace and unexceptional—the everyday opportunities for people to shape their future. At its best, this citizen politics is focused on the well-being of communities as a whole and their capacity to overcome adversity—their resilience. This politics involves more than volunteering. It goes deeper than voting, obeying laws, and paying taxes. It includes but goes beyond serving on advisory bodies and participating in government hearings. It is a politics where citizens don’t just comply or advise; they act.

Below, others share insights about how to work in ways that encourage a robust citizen politics.

As political pundits have begun to size up 2014, some continue to engage in anguished public handwringing over the health of democracy — at least as measured by voter turnout last month. Just 36 percent of Americans cast ballots in November, the lowest percentage since 1942. Fewer and fewer Americans have confidence in their government; approval of Congress is at historic lows. Yet voting, while crucial, is not the only way in which citizens affirm commitment to the democratic process. Voting is the most obvious read more

If you care about the health of our country but fear the political system is dysfunctional and mired in hyperpolarization, don’t despair — get involved and participate. The spirit of participation that so impresses the observant Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville when he visited the U.S. in the 1830s was reflected in the many voluntary associations he saw in this country. This inclination to participate with others produced in people certain attitudes and practices that Tocqueville called “habits of the heart.” These habits (skills that allow read more

Recently, those most associated with the West Virginia Center for Civic Life—its board of directors and many of the most committed champions of civic engagement throughout the state—came together with a very intentional goal: to explore the challenges, the opportunities, and, most of all, the underlying lessons of our various efforts to promote and engage in citizen politics in our communities. During this same time period, I was a mentor and faculty member (and most often a co-learner) in the Kettering Foundation’s ongoing work with read more

Elementary and secondary school educators have an important role to play in helping to prepare the next generation of citizens for their role in democracy. Educators often approach this task by drawing upon standards, formal curricula, and their educational experiences/expertise. While these sources of information are credible and important, they tend to represent a conception of “citizen” hatched within educational institutions—not within democratic communities. As a result, students’ experiences in schools tend to reflect prevailing notions of “what it takes to make a better student,” read more

In an era of shrinking budgets and a splintered, distracted, mostly absent mass of readers and/or viewers, many journalists have concluded that Americans are apathetic citizens, unwilling to “eat their broccoli” and do the work needed to “stay informed.” Thus, all kinds of media organizations have scrambled, even as they slashed staff, to “interact” more, to provide ever-expanding opportunities for people to comment on stories and get in touch with writers and editors. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with such actions, and they can do some read more